Anyone else pick this up today? We’ve been waiting for a new CD from the Dandys for three years, so I’m excited. I grabbed it at lunch and I’ve listened to it through a good four or five times by now.
So how is it? Two words: Awesome and Weird. Not necessarily in that order.
Welcome to the Monkey House is weird. I don’t think they could have made a record more dissimilar to Thirteen Tales than this one.
Have you ever noticed how indie-type bands tend to follow a record that received a lot of popular attention with one that is almost completely unapproachable by anyone but the most loyal fans? Radiohead comes to mind. I dug Kid A but there wasn’t much on there that I would play for someone who had never heard Radiohead before to try to get 'em hooked. Monkey House is striking me the same way. With the exception of “We Used to Be Friends” and “You Were the Last High” this CD is pretty bizarre.
Anyway - speaking of the CD itself - it’s growing on me quite a bit. I absolutely LOVE “You Were the Last High” - especially on a decent sound system (which sadly my new car is lacking). The way the electronics and the instruments mix with the vocals creates an amazing sound. If that song would have been thirty minutes long it would have saved me a lot of clicks on the button to play it again today.
“We Used to Be Friends” is great as well. This song is classic Dandys to me - it’s three chords over and over but there is so much going on in the song you don’t even notice. I love this song.
A few of the songs on the album can be summed up with the first thing I said when I heard them: “What the hell?” What’s the deal with “The Dope” and “Insincere Because I?” If there was some kind of music line-up I’d never be able to pick these songs out as Dandys songs. These two are really the only two that I’m skipping at this point. Even “The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone,” which sounds like something Frankie Valli on peyote buttons would record has grown on me, but not these two.
Overall I’m definitely enjoying the album though. And now, I believe it’s time for another “Last High” marathon. Anyone else pick this up today?
Oh, and for the Europeaners who have had this album for a while: I hate you.
It’s been on the Net for a while too…
Are record companies really still releasing in different areas at different times?! :eek: ? (and then sueing and bankrupting any fans who can’t wait and download off the net)
Saw the Dandys at Glasto - not too shabby!
(and Radiohead of course, you have my permission to hate me for witnessing that performance)
i meant to pick it up yesterday but ended up working overtime. i’ll probably snag it today.
i’ve downloaded “…friends” and “you were the last high” and was pretty impressed with them both. “high” is an amzing song, i play it over and over and over. it really doesn’t get old. that’s what amazes me about the dandy’s, they’re music is deceptively simple, yet it doesn’t seem to get boring. they just find a great groove, and ride that shit out.
Hey you guys, ^^^^, its called new wave. Very simply, yet highly melodic and lush. This album was a tribute of sorts to the wondeful New Romantic bands of the 80s (esp. Roxy Music).
Yes, this album was produced with help from Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes. Which gives it a big ++++ in my books.
Unfortunately, in an interview with the Dandys, they denounced the work of Gary Numan. And that is simply unacceptable.
I had to go to 3 stores to find this CD yesterday. There is no real record store near where I live so I went into Best Buy. The CD wasn’t in the new releases section, and it wasn’t in the Dandys assigned spot. An employee looked it up and their store was listed as having -4 copies. I finally ended up buying it at a Barnes and Noble.
I still haven’t heard the whole thing, but it seems to me that musically the CD is much more limited in scope compared to their earlier efforts. Not to say that I don’t like it, but it just doesn’t seem to have the variety of music styles that previous albums did. It will probably take a few listens before it grows on me, and I am sure that it will since the band is too damn good.
i finally got to listen all the way through a number of times, and i think it’s an excellent album. my problem is that “last high” is so good, i keep rewinding (sorry, grew upon cassettes) and playing it again.
the first six songs are great, and take you on a little sonic tour around the eighties. the title track is little more than an intro, but kind of clues you into the musical philosophy of the dandys.
the album seems only to lapse into parody in a few spots, and they keep that synthesized eighties thing pretty fresh throughout.
there are a few songs that outshine the rest, but the not so catchy songs seem to support the album well. it sort of drags around “dandy warhols love almost everyone”, and “insincere”, but i think you know which song comes up next…
and the album wraps up strong, even though i think “burned” is a little weak. all in all, i think this album ranks right up there with their last.
but still, i need at least a week to give it a fair trial. but so far, so good…
Anyone else pick this up today?